The remote Scottish isles have long held a mythic pull in cinema, but few films dare to venture as deep into their stark beauty and isolationist folklore as THE INCOMER, the singular debut from UK director Louis Paxton that will open the Next Section category at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. With Paris-based Charades boarding world sales, the film arrives with considerable international momentum, anchored by a cast led by Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson and HOUSE OF THE DRAGON‘s Gayle Rankin. On an unnamed Scottish island buffeted by wind and myth, siblings Isla and Sandy have carved out an existence that belongs more to ancestral memory than modern life, surviving by hunting seabirds, retelling the stories passed down through generations, and fiercely defending their homeland from what they call “incomers”—outsiders who threaten to dilute or destroy their way of being. Their precarious balance shatters when Daniel, an awkward council worker played by Gleeson, arrives with bureaucratic orders to relocate them, setting off a collision between ancient tradition and contemporary governance.
The film’s supporting ensemble includes Grant O’Rourke from OUTLANDER, Emun Elliott of PROMETHEUS, Michelle Gomez known for DOCTOR WHO, and John Hannah, forever etched in memory from FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, lending weight and range to Paxton’s vision of a Scotland rarely seen on screen.
What emerges from the synopsis is a story that refuses easy categorization, blending comedy with ecological elegy, myth with bureaucratic absurdity, and the fierce dignity of those who refuse to be erased with the well-meaning but destructive machinery of progress. Paxton’s choice to stage this confrontation on a remote isle, where siblings converse with mythical beings and live according to rhythms older than nations, suggests a filmmaker unafraid to wrestle with questions of belonging, displacement, and what we lose when we prioritize efficiency over rootedness. As THE INCOMER prepares for its world premiere in Park City, it promises to be one of Sundance’s most distinctive offerings, a film that honors the stubborn beauty of those who remain when everyone else has left, and asks whether preservation is worth the cost of isolation.
BAD SISTERS creator @sharonhorgan is in the @criterioncollection closet.
Sharon`s new show, YOUTH, is now streaming on @hbo and @hbomax.
Who else loves THE PRINCESS BRIDE and THE RED BALLOON 🎈?
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Congrats to Saoirse Ronan!
PAPER PLANE, her 15-min directorial and screenwriting debut, has just won BIG at @encounterssff.
Despite four Oscar nominations, Saoirse still truly believes in independent film!
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73-year-old @piercebrosnanofficial tells @interviewmag that acting means constantly constructing and destroying a part of yourself to become the character.
From Bond to MOBLAND and everything in between, Brosnan is the real deal.
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See you in 2040! 🎬⏳
Richard Linklater just gave the most Linklater progress report imaginable on MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG: nine sections, twenty years, and the fourth one starts filming in a few months. Paul Mescal has been along for the ride since 2019, and the finished film will take eight years longer than BOYHOOD, which already felt like an impossible feat at twelve.
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The first trailer for ELSINORE is here, and it`s a gut punch 🎭
Andrew Scott plays the late Ian Charleson, the actor who chased the performance of his lifetime as Hamlet at the National Theatre while facing impossible odds. Simon Stone (THE DIG) directs, Stephen Beresford (PRIDE) writes, and Olivia Colman stars alongside Scott, who also produced.
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Colin Farrell, @taylorswift Swift and Dakota Johnson - what a combo!
The BANSHEES OF INISHERIN star is the latest Irish actor to appear in a Swift music video, with PATIENT ZERO premiering tonight at the @vmas.
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Caitríona Balfe has seen it all when it comes to OUTLANDER fans!
The SENSE AND SENSIBILITY star shares the funniest, most unforgettable encounters with the people who`ve followed Claire Fraser`s journey for over a decade 😂
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BAD SISTERS creator @sharonhorgan strikes gold again!
Her new comedy, YOUTH, about a 50-year-old caught between her college-aged son and her aging parents is now on @hbomax.
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She commands every room she walks into 🎭
Siobhán McSweeney, the BAFTA-winning star of DERRY GIRLS, is now the host of THE TRAITORS IRELAND, guiding strangers through a game of trust, suspicion, and deception where a single glance can shift the balance of power.
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